New Family Lines for Riccardo Chialastri and Maria Sapochetti - Stepping Back Generations Through The Portale Antenati (Ancestors Portal)
Saturday, July 15, 2017
Italian records present an ideal chance to reach through
the generations and build the family tree. The digitization of Italian State Archives
records in Italy and published via the Italian National Archives on what is generally
called the “Antenati” has been invaluable to those with Italian ancestors
and lucky enough to have their State records published online. According to the Anetenati website (http://www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it), 49 state archives are
available totaling over 57 million images. These records are valuable when researching both
the male and female lines, but particularly for the female. The reason stems from the fact that the taking of
the husband’s name upon marriage is not practiced uniformly across
cultures. I and Specifically, Italian
women often kept their maiden names upon marrying making the records valuable since the
female surname’s could be across birth, marriage and death
certificates.
A critical component to researching ancestors who
immigrated to the United States or any country is being able to identify where your
ancestors came from in the old country. The identification of the exact town will be very
helpful to narrow a search when using the Antenati records. The Chialastri-Sapochetti line was stalled at the
parents of Riccardo Filippo Antonio Chialastri and Maria Flavia Sapochetti, who were
married in Italy, immigrated to the United States and are the focus of this analysis.
Riccardo and Maria were from Cave in the province of
Lazio and the state of Roma. Cave is located about 40 km southeast from
Rome.
Cave is on the western side of Mt. Prenestini between
its slope and the Valle del Sacco.
Riccardo’s daughter, Elizabeth (Chialastri) Sacco passed down the information that Riccardo was born in 1892 in Cave to Salvatore Chialastri and Anna Maria Scacchetti. Riccardo married Maria Sapochetti, daughter of Salvatore Sapochetti and Anna Maria Cleri in Cave. Maria was also born in 1892 in Cave. Ricardo and Maria Sapochetti had the following children all born in Atlantic City, New Jersey1,2:
- Elizabeth Chialastri was born 19 November 1913.
- Nannina Chialastri was born 7 May 1915.
- Salvatore N. Chialastri was born 29 April 1917.
- Emilia Chialastri was born 12 February 1921.
- Richard Chialastri was born 26 November 1931.
Elizabeth told how sometime between 1921 and 1931, the
family left the United States for Cave, Italy. According to these family stories, the children,
Elizabeth, Annie (Nannina), Sam (Salvatore), and Mim (Emila) were upset with leaving
the United States and threatened to leave as soon as they were old enough such that
Riccardo and Maria finally settled in the U.S. prior to their last child,
Richard’s birth. The immigration
will be covered in a separate analysis since the focus of this work is trace the
ancestors in Cave.
The 1930 U.S. Census3 entry provided the first clue to search the
Antenati for marriage records for Riccardo and Maria. A census question asked the age at which they
married, both indicated 20 years old. Since both were listed as 38 years old in 1930,
the likely year of marriage for Riccardo and Maria in Cave was approximately
1912.
Cave records for various years for birth, marriage and
death certificates were available on the Antenati website. The “Pubblicazioni di Martimonio"4, which is essentially the declaration of
Riccardo and Maria to marry, typically a marriage bann. The record is dated 24 October 1912 and contains
a trove information related to Riccardo and Maria.
Riccardo is 19 years old with occupation of
“contadino”, farmer. His
father, Salvatore, is 62 years old, also a farmer and Riccardo’s mother is Anna
Maria Scacchetti, no age provided.
They are all residents of Cave.
Approximate birth dates calculated from the ages suggests Riccardo’s was born
about 1893 close to 1892 and presents a range to search, while his father, Salvatore
was born about 1850, again providing a range to search for birth records if
available.
Maria Sapochetti is 20 years old, providing a birth year
of about 1892. Her father, Salvatore
is 65 years old, born around 1847, and he works as a farmer in Cave. An important notation is also on the form
relative to Maria’s mother, it reads, “della fu Cleri Anna
Maria”. This identifies her
mother as Anna Maria Cleri, but the designation of “della fu” in Italian
records indicates she is deceased.
The witnesses to the bank are Pietro Milani and Vincenzo
Foschi. The document is signed by
Riccardo, Pietro and Vincenzo.
Searching the records resulted in the Atti di Matrimonio
or Act of Marriage is the actual certificate for the marriage of Riccardo and
Maria. This was found as well in the
Antenati records for Cave. The
marriage date was 4 December 19125, no new information was noted on the
record.
A family tree with some additional data was constructed
based on these records.
Initial information was that Anna Maria Cleri died after
giving birth to Maria. Focusing on Maria Sapochetti (b. 1892), specifically her mother,
Anna Maria Cleri, who died before the Publicazzioni in October of 1912 a potential
range of search years spans 1892 to 1912. The Atti di Morte for Cave includes this
range and the record for Anna Maria Cleri was found, she died according to the record 1
June 19016. The record confirms this is the wife of Salvatore
with the statement, “moglie di Sapochetti Salvatore”, with moglie meaning
wife of.
The record indicates that Anna Maria was 48 years old
when she died (quarantotto) indicating a birth year of approximately 1853. The record also identifies Anna Maria’s
parents as Giovanni Cleri and Giacinta Milani. Giacinta Milani is deceased by the preposition
“fu” prior to her name. It
is unclear what designation proceeds Giovanni. The identification of the next generation
provided enough information to search for a marriage record for Salvatore Sapochetti
and Anna Maria Cleri.
The marriage record for Salvatore and Anna Maria was
located in Cave records on the Antenati website and provides a marriage date of 30
December 18747. The handwriting is difficult to discern but from
the left side, it is certificate #11.
An important note is Salvatore is the son of Antonio, who is likely alive by the use of
“di” while Anna Maria is the daughter of Giovanni, with the designation
“fu” typically used if the parent is deceased. This might help clarify what precedes Giovanni
from Anna Maria’s Atti di Morte where the writing was unclear.
The marriage record lists the parents for Salvatore
Sapochetti and Anna Maria Cleri.
Salvatore’s parents are listed as Antonio, as previously noted, and his mother is
Francesca Calajacomo. The designation preceding both parents is “di”
indicative that they were living at the time of the marriage.
Anna Maria’s parents are Giovanni, as previously
mentioned, who appears to have died prior to the marriage. Her mother is Giacinta Renzi. This is different from what was listed in her
Atti di Morte, where Giacinta Milani was identified as her mother. It is not clear from the record whether the
mother is living or not. The records
provided details to Maria Sapochetti’s parents and helped provide a generation
back.
The focus turned to Riccardo and his family. The Atti di Morte for Anna Maria Scacchetti was
located, certificate #1 dated 13 January 1918.8 Anna Maria is listed as “moglie di
Chialastri Salvatore”, the wife of Salvatore Chialastri. Anna Maria was 65 years of age when she died in
Cave, putting her birth year at approximately 1857. Anna Maria Scacchetti’s parents are
identified and both appear to have the “fu” designation indicating by 1918
they are deceased. Her father is
Francesco Scacchetti and her mother is Annafelice Traversi, both of Cave.
Salvatore Chialastri, Riccardo’s father, Atti di
Morte was found and indicates he died 16 September 1919 at the age of
69.9 This suggests he was born about 1850. He is predeceased by both parents as noted again
by the “fu” prior to their names. Salvatore Chialastri’s father is identified
as Filippo and his mother is identified as Anna Moroni. A cross-check with regards to his wife, Anna
Maria Scacchetti is provided with the statement, “vedovo di Scacchetti Anna
Maria”, where vedovo means widower, aligned with the previous record for Anna
Maria Scacchetti.
A final discovery was the Atti di Morte for Anna Moroni
“fu Domenico” dated 3 December 1891.10 This information can add another generation to
the tree with the identification of Anna Moroni’s father. The record indicates Anna is “vedova di
Chialastri Filippo”, the widow of Filippo Chialastri. Her father is Domenico, deceased and her mother,
Giroloma Fari, is also deceased as noted by “della fu”. Anna Moroni was 76 when she died, putting her
birth at about 1815.
The records found in the Antenati provided enough
information to create the most current family tree, and yielded important information
to continue searching the records.
Through analysis of the records, an additional generation has been added to what was
known for Maria Sapochetti and two generations in part were added for Riccardo
Chialastri.
